A Nightmare on Elm Street 7: Freddy's Back
by freddykre
Summary: AUish, it takes place after Freddy's Dead, you'll probably want to watch that if you haven't, but if you have don't cling on to all the facts. Pairing is JohnOC, maybe someone else later. Rated T for language.


**Just a note: I LOVE Freddy, so this is not really meant to be a Kill-Freddy fic, but I started it at school, and it's just going this way. PS, I don't own anything.**

CHAPTER 1

Katherine walked down the old rusty boiler room, the steam blowing from pipes made her jump when she walked by. She heard a distant voice; the man's laughter sent a shiver down her spine. She had heard all of the stories and seen the news reports; he was dead. _She_ killed him, or so she thought until he came back. But he was dead now, it was a dream, _nothing_ could happen…knives scratched on the metal behind her. She jumped forward, razors barely missing her back and turning her sweater into confetti. Katherine let out a panicked scream and ran forward, tumbling down the hard steel stairs. She got up quickly. Blood seeped from her head where she made contact with the floor. The man followed closely behind her, his cruel laughter echoing in Katherine's head. She finally came to a dead end. Turning around, she saw the man slowly closing in on her. She whimpered, only able to mutter "Daddy…" She grasped a steaming pipe and let out a shriek, her hand burning red.

Her screams were finally subdued when a pair of cold hands shook her awake. "Kat…Kat, wake up, it's just a dream."

She shook her head, tears streaming down her face. "No, John…he's back."

"Who? Freddy?" Katherine just nodded pitifully. "That's insane, he's dead."

"You were dead too."

He sighed. "I never died, you _dreamed_ it. Freddy was real, Freddy _dieing_ was real. My death, though, that was a dream. Just like what you had was a dream."

She took off her sweater and threw it at him. "How do you explain that then?"

He examined the sweater that had been turned into ribbons. He took her hands. "Look at your nails. I wouldn't be surprised if you were turning into him, your nails are getting so long."

"That's the _back_ of my sweatshirt. Do you think it's easy to do that when you're sleeping?"

He shook his head. "There's got to be a better explanation. Freddy is not back."

Katherine looked at her quivering hand before she showed it to him. Her skin was red and peeled where she had touched the pipe. "Then how do explain this?"

He just looked at her, at a loss for words.

"See, I told you, he's back."

"OK, say he's back, how could he get you? We're as far away from Springwood as possible, and there isn't an Elm Street anywhere near us."

"Nothing about him makes sense! Jesus, John, it's Freddy."

John didn't reply; his mind was elsewhere. "Where's Tracy?"

"Sleeping…" The two shot up and ran to her room. She was thrashing and wining, begging something to stop. They rushed to her side and shook her awake. She had cuts all over her body, and blood stained her clothes.

"Holy shit," she breathed. "Freddy's back."

X+X+X+X+X+X

"So, where did you see him?" Tracy asked, lighting a cigarette.

"Where else would I see him? In the—ow!" She turned to John who was mending her hands. "Not so hard."

"Sorry."

"He was in his boiler room, or whatever. What about you?"

"My house. He always goes for me in my fucking house! I let my guard down. I wasn't ready for him."

"It's OK Tracy." Katherine put a reassuring hand on Tracy's shoulder. "He screws with all of our minds."

"I had a dream about a girl," said John, taking part in the conversation for the first time.

Tracy glared. "God John, we don't need to hear about your wet dreams."

"Not like that," John said rolling his eyes. "She was in a classroom with little kids, sitting in the corner. Only she was too old to be in their class, 17 maybe, and they didn't seem to even notice her. She had fresh cuts all over her. I always wake up before I can speak to her."

Katherine was staring at him with amazement. "Jesus John, how long have you been having these dreams?"

"I don't know, a few days maybe."

"Don't make this sound like less than it is, you know what that bastard can do."

"Your speaking of him in pretty low esteem considering you kept his name, _Katherine Krueger_."

"Fuck you!" spat Tracy out of nowhere. "You know as well as I do why she keeps that name. As long as she has that name, it's still real to her; _he's_ still real to her. As long as she has that name it's not a joke, and no matter what anyone says she knows it's real."

"But that doesn't matter now." Kat looked at John. "We have to find her. If we find her we can save her."

"_Find_ her? For all we know this is Freddy just trying to get us back."

"Look at my sweater, John. He's a bit past getting us back. We've got nothing to lose. And if we don't find her, she could die."

John was silent for a moment. "We both agree Freddy is showing me this, right?" Katherine nodded. "So this is probably just some sick game he's playing with us."

"_Or_ Freddy's back and is bragging by waving in front of your face someone that matters."

"That makes no sense. I don't even know who she is."

"John, you don't remember anything about yourself before a year ago. She could be your sister for all you know."

"But she's not; I would remember."

"You wouldn't remember anything John! You didn't even remember Freddy. Now this girl, whoever she is, will be murdered if we wait to long. We have to find her."

"Find her how?" said John now trying to think of any reason not to do this.

"Your _dreams_," said Katherine. "Find more clues from your dreams."

"You want to give me to Freddy as bait, or something?"

Katherine rolled her eyes. "If Freddy wanted to kill you he would do it by now. Besides, Tracy and I will watch you sleep, make sure nothing happens."

"Fine. Tracy, you're gonna have to lay me out."

"No!" screamed Katherine, remembering what had happened in that epic dream the year before. "I mean…concentration, meditation. That's what Doc always says, right?"

"Sure…" said Tracy slowly. She hadn't the faintest clue who "Doc" was, as she didn't partake in the same dream Kat did. She didn't know who anybody was from the "shelter" Kat always talked about. She only ever met Kat when she found her on the streets, running from her dreams as much as her past. Therefore, she didn't have to witness John die as Kat had, so laying him out sounded like a fine plan to her. "Whatever. I won't hit him."

It was fairly easy for John to get to sleep, as he had only gotten three hours before Katherine started screaming. Once he did, the dream took over. He was in the same classroom he had visited multiple times before. There was a teacher rambling about something and 20 young students looking elsewhere; some were drawing, some were looking out the window, and two bold students were chatting away as if their teacher didn't exist. And there, in the corner, was a trembling teenager with cuts all over her body. Her brown hair was bloodstained, same as her white shirt and her ripped jeans. Her breaths were short, mixed with the tears streaming down her face.

John looked out the window and the first thing he laid his eyes on was the large sign reading "Springwood Elementary: The Right Choice For Any Child". Recognition hit him like a block of cement; he had been here before. Directly after figuring out where he was, he moved on to the girl on the ground. With quick steps he made his way over and knelt down beside her. He took her shoulders and shook them lightly until she looked at him. Her face was now devoid of all expression. She had dark rings under her eyes and her cheeks were stained with tears.

"Who are you?" John demanded. "Who am I?"

Without speaking a word she picked up a quivering hand and pointed at the pair of chatting students. It was only then John noticed the resemblance between he and the boy, as well as the girl on the ground and the girl at the desk. The little girl's hair was much lighter, almost blonde, and the little boy's curlier, but he was sure they were the same. This was his friend lying abused on the ground. And this was her memory that he was invading.

X+X+X+X+X+X

"John, are you sure you know where to go?" Katherine asked, practically jogging to keep up with John's hurried steps.

"I'm sure."

"Maybe I should drive. You seem a bit edgy."

"I'm driving."

"Will you two hurry up?" Tracy shouted from the car. She had been ready to leave for a half an hour, and thoroughly excited to kick Freddy's ass. She would have begun before now if John and Kat insisted they wait until they were in Springwood.

Katherine ignored her. "John, you can't do all this driving by yourself."

"It's only gonna take three hours. We moved to Michigan, not California. Listen, Kat, you're the one who wanted to do this in the first place."

"And what's made you so desperate?" Her eyes widened. "Do you remember her? Do you know her?"

"No. But she knows me. We knew each other. And you're right, she's gonna die if we don't help, and soon."

Kat had never seen John this worked up. Not since her dream when he was convinced _he_ was Freddy's child. When he drove, he drove erratically, nearly hitting another car every 10 minutes. The 3-hour journey ended up only lasting one, and he pulled into the Springwood Elementary parking lot with a loud screech. The school was deserted because of Summer Vacation, but the door was open, and once inside John was sure he could hear a faint whimper. The school was so large that following the voice, which neither Kat nor Tracy believed to be real, was the only thing he could do. So as those two checked the classrooms one by one, each taking one side of the hall, John ran down the many halls to where he was sure he could hear her. And the voice grew louder. After frantic minutes of searching, John ran into a classroom, the classroom in his dream. Before even searching the room, he shouted behind him, "She's in here!" He could see the Springwood Elementary sign out the window and, with complete confidence he ran to the corner where she lay every dream. But she wasn't there that time. _She has to be here,_ he thought. _She has to_.

From the other corner of the room he heard a faint voice. "David…you came back." And there she was. Exactly as she was in his dream. He had walked right past her without a glance.

He knelt next to her, helping her to sit up. Despite how beaten and cut she was, the girl couldn't help but smile. John touched her face. She leaned into his touch, her soft, painful smile growing. "Natalie," John said softly. The name had escaped his mouth before he even knew where it came from.

"I missed you," she said with a crackly voice. "I missed you so much."

"John!" shouted Tracy from the door. "How his she?"

Blood was seeping from her quickly. Before John could answer, however, Natalie cut in. Placing a soft hand on his chest, she looked up into her long-lost best friend's eyes. "Who's John?"

**Please review, as this is my first Freddy fic. Yes, I know, not much Freddy…yet. Muahahahaha! **


End file.
